A Chronicle of the Plum Creek Shooting Society Agarita Ranch August 2014 Lockhart, Texas L.W. Hannabass shooting all three guns at the same time. You ask, how’d he do that? You’ll have to ask photographer and fellow shooter, Dutch Van Horn. It’s an icon of the Old West - the gunfight in which two lone gunmen face off in the middle of a dusty street, pistols holstered, waiting for the first to draw and fire. ollywood movies are notorious for readers. These novels contained stories of Hembellishing the truth, particularly legendary Old West gunslingers like Wyatt when it comes to the Old West gunfight. Earp, Doc Holliday, Wild Bill Hickok, Buffalo Hollywood movies are not, however, the only Bill, Bat Masterson and others. Authors of place where the facts have been embellished. these stories would conjure up fictional Many years accounts of the adventures of these famed before individuals and/or would embellish things Find Delta Raider. …………….. 3 cinema was that actually did occur. It was not only the June Match Report …………… 4 invented, writers who embellished the truth, many of Photos …………………………. 11-14 dime novels the “heroes” exaggerated the truth of their President’s Word ……………… 2 were printed, own stories. Newspapers also overstated Stories from Jake ……………… 5 captivating tales of Old West gunmen in order to boost Continued page 7 What a joy it was to return to shooting at Plum Creek after our summer wanderings. President - Dragon Hill Dave And a great shoot it was, as David Donaldson Austin, TX 512-626-8189 Long Juan’s report in this [email protected] issue describes. Barely There and I had Vice President - Joe Darter just gotten back from the San Tom Morris Diego Comic-Con. And people Seguin, TX 210-464-3969 think we dress weird! It was a [email protected] SASS Regulator & PCSS President working visit as we were Secretary & helping my wife’s sister at a Editor, Agarita Gazette - booth she had at the convention, but I got loose Long Juan enough to get around to several of the booths and John Soule take lots of pictures of Austin, TX 512-750-3923 “Cosplayers”-folks who [email protected] dress up for these Treasurer - True Blue Cachoo conventions and are Nancy Forage judged. There were some Austin, TX 512-775-0699 pretty amazing costumes, from Thor outfits to Territorial Governor - Jake stormtroopers, elves, Paladin dwarves, zombies, Boba J.P. Forage Fets, Batmen, Supermen, Zeldas and more Dr. Who Austin, TX 512-970-4990 characters than I knew existed. [email protected] It reminded me that while we are a shooting sport Range Marshal - Delta Raider (and we are pretty good), we are also a fantasy game Chuck Leshikar centered on the Old West. Dressing the part Lockhart, TX 512-227-1389 heightens the experience for everyone. No, I’m not [email protected] going to say that blue jeans are forbidden (they’re Range Deputy - Lightning not), but a good old Western shirt with jeans will sure McQueen make a difference. Add a silk scarf and some garters Jesus Segura to make a simple shirt and jeans much more than Fentress, TX 512-749-6895 ordinary. [email protected] A good example of how dressing a part can make a Safety Marshal - Artiman difference was a shooter on our posse who had just Jay Davis returned from Tombstone where he bought an outfit Lockhart, TX 512-762-7175 (including a hat) that he wore for the first time at our [email protected] match. He just looked great—from the back you would swear he was the Wyatt Earp of the movie Stage Marshal - P.T. “Tombstone.” He even had the body shape and Flag Marshal - Artiman mustache to carry out the illusion. His presence gave our posse a little bit of flair (and maybe he shot 2 seconds per stage faster just ‘cause he looked good? It could happen!). Now if I could just remember his alias. Continued next page Page 2 Like our scenarios and lines, dressing the part helps us all get into the Old West mood and enhances the experience for us all. Find a look that works for you (notice how Phantom is always in black?) and bring it to the match. These hot summer shoots make it hard to put on much (I admit I took my vest off before we started this time), but accessories like braces, scarfs (wet ‘em down), garters, vests, cuffs, spurs or chinks (like Kickshot wears) can add to everyone’s experience. However you dress, we hope to see you in September. And it’s not too early to sign up for the SASS Texas State Championship, “Battle of Plum Creek” coming in May 2015. See ya’ at the Agarita! DHD’s Favorite At least two of the guys to the right would fit right in with our Cody-Dixon GAF posse. Note: For anyone who’s interested, there will be a Comic Con in Austin the weekend of our October match. Delta Raider was hanging out in the barrel of a ‘73 last month. See right. He’s hidden again this month. Who can find him? Hereby mentioned in the Dispatches for finding Delta Raider last month are: Sterling Sage, Bear Gunz, Nichols Creek, El Sabre (who wasn’t first this month), Two Spurs, Skinny Steve, Shooting Iron Miller, Sheriff Robert Love, Manassas Jack, Lincoln Drifter, Belle Fire, Meadow Biscuit Slim, Hairtrigger Hayes, Jarhead Jake and Big John Mesquite. That’s a record number of finders. Let’s see if we can beat the record this month. Page 3 ugust 2nd dawned clear and relatively cool for summer in Central ATexas. Temperatures were in the upper 60’s, lower 70’s as shooters arrived for check in. By the time the shooting was over, a little after noon, the temperatures were still only in the mid-80’s. Humidity dropped during the match, at least in part because of the gentle breeze that Delta Raider ordered up for the morning. e called the match a Shoot & Scoot because we did not have our usual lunch in the WPavilion after the match. With a wedding scheduled at the Agarita Ranch later that day, we checked in at the bunkhouse/barracks instead of the hotel/saloon. For many, it seemed better than our usual location, although that may have been because of the weather. Several shooters accepted the invitation to bring lunch and enjoy eating under the trees after the shooting was over. n any event, the change in venue worked just fine. We had 70 shooters register for the Imatch, most of whom arrived before the 8:30 cut-off, including notoriously late Colt Faro and his son, Matt Black. It was good to have Plum Creek President Dragon Hill Dave back from his travels. Thanks to Lightning McQueen, Artiman, Lefty Leo, Joe Darter, Phantom, Dragon Hill Dave and I am sure others who helped get the range ready the day of the match and before. Thanks also to Delta Raider, True Blue Cachoo, Artiman and Jake Paladin who made registration a breeze. Even with a few shooters arriving a little late, we had posses formed and were hammers down just a little after 9:00 a.m. We had several new-to-us shooters, some first-timers and a others who have not been to the Agarita Ranch for a while. A big welcome (back) to Big Iron Patnode, Blacky Vela, Buckskin Brian, Fightin Parson, Flatwater Frosty (and wife, Cinnamon Sage), John Selman, Kettleman, Lucky Chambers, Mustang Sadie, Red Bud Anderson, Shorty, Texas Drifter and Texas Two Step. Hope you and everyone else had fun and will be back soon. e shot Stages 1-5, the Stockade, the Badlands, the Elroy Rogers Wheelwright Shop, Wthe Livery Stable and the Blacksmith Shop. Everyone appeared to have fun. We had 16 (23%) clean shooters. Congratulations to Abilene, Big John Mesquite, Boon Doggle, Colt Faro, Dragon Hill Dave, E.T., El Sabre, Farr Ranger, Jake Jones, Jake Paladin, Jarhead Jake, Kettleman, Kickshot, Rusty Shackleford, Skyhawk Hans and Texas Sarge. Our Top Ten overall included Colt Faro, who beat his son, Matt Black by less than two seconds, followed by World Champion 49r Phantom, Kickshot, Skyhawk Hans, Joe Darter, Dragon Hill Dave, Kit Carson, Top Lady Spur Broke, who beat number 10 Ivory Venom by less than a second and her husband, Tres Equis, who finished 11th, by less than two seconds. Guess with those results, I will have to start saying, “accuracy is just as important as neatness in scorekeeping.” Congratulations to winners in competitive categories: Cody Dixon Lever, Gold Dog; Cody Dixon Single, Boon Doggle; Wild Agarita, Mesquite Creek Mike; Elder Statesman, Frank Longshot; Senior, Kickshot; Silver Senior, Skyhawk Hans; Senior Duelist, Farr Ranger; Frontier Cartridge Duelist, Nueces Ranger; Classic Cowboy Dragon Hill Dave; Gunfighter, Kit Carson; Duelist, Circuit Judge, Ladies 49r, Six Goin’ South; 49r, Colt Faro; Wrangler, Rusty Shackleford; Cowboy, Phantom; and Cowgirl, Spur Broke. Continued next page Page 4 n closing, thanks to the many non-shooters, like Cinnamon Sage and Little Bullseye, Iwho helped by keeping score, picking brass and a variety of other tasks that shooters on each posse would otherwise have to handle. Thanks also to those who came out for one or more workdays in the last couple of months to help work on the range, including Lightning McQueen, Lefty Leo, Leo’s Lady, Little Bullseye, Kit Carson, Dragon Hill Dave, Artiman, Walking Bear and Shinbone Bob. Without their efforts and the efforts of other volunteers, we would not have the quality shooting facility we have.